Much to report

It seems, as of late, the adoption roller coaster has been moving along at break-neck speed in some ways, and is still just slowly clicking up the hill in others. Nonetheless, there is much to report in the adoption world.

First, we got our second update on Selah today. She's doing so well! I can't put specifics, but at her referral, she was off the standards chart of the World Health Organization for weight. At her next month update, she jumped onto the chart, and now she's another notch closer to average. Praise the Lord. Also, praise the Lord that the report says, "She has been very healthy!" It also said "G sleeps well. She likes to be held to go to sleep. She started making single sounds. She also started to roll over. G is sweet and smiley." Now that kind of report just warms a mommy's heart. Well, I'm not sure about the liking to be held to go to sleep. Just kidding. What baby doesn't like being held to go to sleep. I just cringe thinking about that time in the future when that precious habit may need to be broken. We shall see. I guess just because I did things a certain way for the boys doesn't mean it has to be exactly the same for baby girl :) She is the baby of the family after all :)

Other personal news: we have a consultation appointment with Dr. Glen Davis on January 30 to discuss Selah and all that we know about her and what she's going to need upon her arrival. I'm hoping he will prescribe some anti-fungal medication (or tell me what to get over the counter) since she seems to have a funky fungus going on in her face and it's getting worse, from what we can see. I'm so excited about Dr. Davis for a myriad of different reasons. First, he was our very first pediatrician with Braden but moved away. We really liked him then (for Karl, it may have had a lot to do with him going to Universiy of Michigan's medical school!) and were sad to see him go, so it's great that he's back in the area. Also, several of our friends that have adopted from Africa have Dr. Davis as their pediatrician and rave about him. He really goes over and above the call of duty to help diagnose unique situations. Also, he's African-American which, as Selah gets older (and for the boys as well) is just a real plus in our neck of the world where "peach skin" (as Owen calls it) still is a very clear majority. I'm so thankful that the world continues to progress in areas of race, but I would be naive to say there aren't still very real issues with racism (and other isms, for that matter) and so, to have an amazing doctor and the President of the United States both be African-American feels like two great opportunities for our daughter to see that color of skin does not need to have a negative impact on her dreams.

We also just received in the mail our re-fingerprinting appointment date for January 29 and Selah's adorable bedding came in the mail today from target.com. I really thought I'd do pottery barn this time around, but for the expense, I didn't absolutely fall in love with any of their current styles--and that was combing the newest magazines, their online store, AND ebay! So, this adorable brown and pink target pattern (on clearance!) will be perfect. My sis-in-law, Erica, the design star, is going to help me with it while she looks for a great job in Chicago. I am so lucky!!!!!

Other than that, I would ask that you continue to keep families adopting from Ethiopia in your prayers, as well as the children waiting for them across the sea and the government officials (MOWA representatives, judges, etc.) involved with international adoption. We got sad news today from the Semlows and Kulps regarding more failed court dates because of complications concerning the orphanage their children came from. It's just devastating for these families. And the Forrest family also got bad news recently about one of their children not passing court...and more complications in the works. The Ethiopian courts seem to be getting more and more strict and while this may be important to ensure that everything is above board, it is also indescribably hard for those families back here who long for their children, have already waited a very long time, and can't imagine having to wait even longer.

Thanks for rejoicing with those who rejoice and mourning with those who mourn. Hopefully, we'll all be rejoicing together in less than 2 weeks now, but regardless, God is in control......

AND HE IS GOOD.